breeding area for Little Ringed Plover. 1860 rail crash There was a major railway accident in Helmshore in September 1860. There were eleven lives lost and 77 people were injured. The accident happened on the line between Snig Hole and the Ogden Viaduct, both local beauty spots, 400 yards from Helmshore station. About 3,000 people had gone from East Lancashire on three excursion trains to Salford to visit the attractions at Belle Vue Gardens. The second train with about 1,000 passengers and 31 carriages got to Helmshore Station where it stopped to let out some passengers. "When the guard released the brakes there was a jerk and 16 carriages broke away from the train and started sliding down the line between Helmshore and Ramsbottom. Mr Shaw, the superintendent, saw what had happened and unhooked the engine from the train in order to go down the other line to warn the third train, but unfortunately he was too late. The carriages had already run 400 yards down the line and collided with the oncoming train." Early bus service One of the world's first municipal bus services linked Helmshore to Haslingden in 1907. The 18-seat Leyland bus was operated by Haslingden Council. It made 14 daily trips with a top speed of . In 1919 the Council introduced a 12-seater 'Whippet', which turned round at Woodbank. The driver issued the tickets, making it one of the world's earliest one-man operated bus services. First World War On 25 September 1916 a 179m-long German military Zeppelin airship flew over Helmshore on a bombing mission. It was probably following the railway, attempting to inflict damage on the transport system. One bomb dropped near Clod Lane, Haslingden, where there was a gun cotton factory. Ewood Bridge station was destroyed by bombs and, after passing over Helmshore, the Zeppelin flew on to Holcombe where it did further damage. Second World War The biggest poultry supplier in Britain during the war was Rodwells, who had a large poultry operation between Irongate and Kenyon Clough off Holcombe Road, to the south of Helmshore. By post-war standards it was fairly small, but large-scale poultry production only started elsewhere in the UK during the 1960s. The West Pennine Way guide mentions that American GIs set up camp on the flat top of Musbury Tor to practice paratroop drops and field exercises with live ammunition before D-Day. In 'The Helmshore Historian', published